HAIR

March 31, 2015

REVIEW: Johnny Rockets

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that Cakes and I grabbed lunch at Johnny Rockets on Sunday afternoon. Johnny Rockets is an international food chain, popular for its American fare - BURGERS! They also have milkshakes, sandwiches, chili, amongst other menu items.

Johnny Rockets started in the US in 1986 and even though there were branches in Boston and Atlanta (where I lived for years), I never was interested in checking it out. Even when they opened in Lagos, (maybe 2 years ago), I was just like "Enh, whatever." I think that it doesn't occur to me to go out to a restaurant just to eat a burger - oh no, wait, Olivia's Cafe in Lekki used to have this amazing burger and sadly they overhauled their menu. Johnny Rockets plans to open 5 restaurants in Nigeria.

Anyways, when you walk into Johnny Rockets, it's almost like you're transported back in time - specifically the 50's-60's in America. I wanted to start singing the Happy Days theme song when I walked in, lol.

I liked the attention to detail, for instance, this little jukebox thingy on each table. Even though they were just props, classic American tunes were being played in the background.

Another thing I found cool was the bar seating. If Cakes wasn't so tired, I wouldn't have minded having my meal right there.

And I thought it was pretty nifty to watch the burgers and other food being prepared.

I appreciate the fact that their menu is available online, so you can make your choice before o=you get there. We placed our orders at the bar because some of the empty booths were yet to be cleaned. I would say it took a little too long for the staff to clean up, but apparently a lot of the workers on schedule for Sunday didn't show up because of Election Tension. We eventually got seated and waited for our food to come.

We ordered a full plate of fries to share. Let me tell you - these are the BEST fries I've had in such a long time!!! They seemed like they were either baked or air fried. However they were cooked, I give them THREE THUMBS UP.

Cakes ordered the Bacon Cheddar Burger - Single. I think he enjoyed his burger because he finished his way before me.

I ordered the Naija Burger, which comes with Suya Spice. I added grilled mushrooms to mine though. The bun was soooo good! It was light, and soft and chewy and just the way a burger bun should be. The whole thing itself wasn't too bad. I should have told them to hold the mayo - I think it drowned the suya spice a little bit. I couldn't finish my burger and took half of it home. My overall thought - the burger was nice, but I've had better. At the birthday party last week, BBQ Cravings served the most delicious burger I've had in years! I was hoping Johnny Rockets would be as good, but it didn't quite reach it. It's not a bad burger though. I like the suya spice. I think they should have one with shawarma sauce - that would be epic!

I also ordered a Chocolate Milkshake, because I haven't had a milkshake in such a loooooooooong time. Unfortunately the milkshake wasn't thick and was pretty much a chocolate drink. It tasted good though. I just wish it was a lot thicker.

Our bill came up to about N8500, I think. Overall, I liked my food. But I can't go back there for another 6 months, because I have another 23 to 28 pounds to lose.

Johnny Rockets is at 1141 Adetokunbo Ademola Street in VI, and you can call them at0700BURGERS, 08175881155, 07087958787. You can also follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

20 comments:

My friend' wanted us to try out JR but my first time there wasn't impressive at all!!!! It took like an hour plus for our orders to be delivered and everything just tasted bland, i wanted to cry, waste of 5k lol but I enjoyed their choreography tho'....

I missed the choreography. If we had gone earlier, like right after church when the place was full, i'm sure I would have seen it. I think because we went at that time too, it took a fair amount of time for the food to be prepared.

LOL, I thought you were going to say I can't go there for another 3 to 6 months because there are way too many other restaurants in Lagos that need to be tried out :)I'm not a Burger fan but the Suya burger sounds very interesting.I've been there once, it was before I started my blog and I had the chicken burger, can't remember much about the taste though.I just checked out the menu online and it looks like they have expanded it and added some more options, might stop by there someday soon.

I have been to the one in Abuja and the setting is exactly the same even up to that design they do with ketch up on the plate. the burger was really nice but I don't know if it was worth my 4k abi 5k I paid. I enjoyed the choreography too, dunno if they still do that now because they had just opened when I went, u know how everything slows down with time. anyone, nice review berry. I could have said the same things, except for the milkshake, not really a fan so I haven't tried.

Loved the diner and 50s feel...the jukebox was real @ the least the prop controlled the music and I sang along like a hummingbird.But the yum yums were way to expensive,I spent about 7,500k with my date for 2 milkshakes and one burger.Didnt you think it was a tad too pricey?

Naija has changed so much since i was there as a kid! I remember the only 'big' place to get food back then was Barcelos haha! Awesome review by the way :) If/When i go back i'll make sure to give it a whirl!

I love JR. It's the only place I. Naija that makes real burgers. My favourite is Route 66. You should have ordered the Oreo milkshake or the butterfingers milk shake. The plain ones aren't special but the ones with biscuits or chocolates? Amazing!

By the way, the juke boxes on each table aren't props. They're real. You click your song and it comes on the sound system around the whole restaurant. There's usually a queue of songs waitin but eventually yours gets play. Whenever we go in there we make a playlist before we even order. Lol.

Really?!?! I kept staring at them trying to figure out if they were real. Aww mehn. When I go back in 6 months i'll give it a try. I don't like my milkshakes crunchy, that's why I typically go for the plain ones - but i'll try it too.